Thursday, February 24, 2011 8:36:13 PMThis is so aweful, sad, terrible, horrific, just no words for this. Imagine if guns were virtually unavailable to you. No gun rights... at all. And the government decided it didn't like what you were doing, so just mowed you down with live fire. My husband's Iranian and I'm very familiar with this culture. These people are in a hopeless situation. God help them and us all through these obviously trying times in the world, and peace to everyone!

Thursday, February 24, 2011 3:41:48 PM"I chastised you and everyone else 'cause I have a gut feeling you won't avert your eyes here, but in real life. When it matters."

You have no idea who any of us are, nor what we are capable of. Frankly, I resent the assumption that any of us are weak or in anyway inferior to anyone else. The freedoms allowing us to express ourselves un-oppressed are exactly what these heroes are seeking, either in full or in part, yet you attempt to retard our expression of said freedoms? On what grounds? Because you find it offensive? Because you think we're disrespectful? You're being naive.

Your indignation is pointless here; You clearly seem fired up- Go do something, go make a difference, go make a change; but don't sit here and pretend that you know us, pretend like you know how or what we think, act, or feel. Don't sit here and chastise us like you know what's best. Because you're not better than us: we're all seeking answers on our own paths- you go do the same.

"The kid got shot in the face for an ideal. Not even something tangible and you want to use this thread and this opportunity, to what? Talk about a war from 70 years ago? Talk about your cat? Your newest meme?"

Clearly you have no idea what is being discussed; and none of this detracts from the fact that this is not a memorials service- this is a place FOR DISCUSSION. Nobody is saying that what these people are going through is not heroic, or in any way diminishing the impact of their actions; and if you think that is the case- you are mistaken.

"I don't think you understand what it truly takes to be in those people's shoes. In fact, based on your comment, I know you don't. I do. I've been there."

Your false assumptions fall on deaf ears. Your righteous anger has nothing to do with us, and is misdirected by complaining about the spirited debate here.

The kid got shot in the face for an ideal. Not even something tangible and you want to use this thread and this opportunity, to what? Talk about a war from 70 years ago? Talk about your cat? Your newest meme?

I don't think you understand what it truly takes to be in those people's shoes. In fact, based on your comment, I know you don't. I do. I've been there.

I chastised you and everyone else 'cause I have a gut feeling you won't avert your eyes here, but in real life. When it matters.

This isn't a memorial service, and this is not a monument. This is a forum where discourse is encouraged.

The content posted started the conversation and it has naturally evolved- if you have a problem with what we are saying- you can avert your eyes; similarly to: if you have a problem with the video, you can avert your eyes.

Nobody is forcing you to participate in the discussion but chastising us for having one is childish. If you want to be contextual to the video, go ahead; if you want to be contextual to the conversation thread, go ahead. If you want to complain about either? Move along- because nobody cares.

Bottom line, ANY form of government will never work and will ALWAYS be corrupt. drat their gov. drat USA's gov. It's all a bunch of bullpoo. In my opinion what happened in Egypt needs to happen everywhere.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 1:06:29 AMMan, only at IAB...Watching young people die for trying to gain freedoms that 90% of you already have and will NEVER have to lay down your lives for...and yet you still guys still manage to overtake the thread by arguing about politics. That's pretty sad, man.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 5:01:49 PMRegarding the military basis, here's what the USA government first asked for as PART of the payment from the UK for lend lease:

The Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica (with its dependencies the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands), Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands.

It was haggled down to military bases and the surrounding areas in Newfoundland, Bermuda and the West Indies.

In addition to the cash, resources and massively valuable newly developed technology and the copyrights to it.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:51:23 PMHe knew the USA would have to fight sooner or later and it was much better for the USA to fight with allies in someone else's country than alone in the USA. His hands were tied by the USA political system and widespread support for neutrality in the USA.

We had pilots going over to fly for the RAF before Pearl Harbor.

A few dozen USA civilians chose to come here and sign up for the UK military. That wasn't the USA being involved - that was individual bravery.

lend lease

There you have a good point. The UK would have been even deeper in the poo without resources from the USA under the lend lease agreement, which was about as far as Roosevelt could push against neutrality before the USA was attacked.

But the USA charged a lot for it. A hell of a lot. The technological advances and associated copyrights alone were worth hundreds of billions.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:51:17 PMtell me exactly how we made money from WW2

USA involvement was bought by the UK with cash, resources and massive payments in technological advancements made in the UK that were hugely profitable post-war (RADAR, jet engine, programmable electronic computer, flyable supersonic plane, antibiotics, nuclear power, etc, with all copyrights signed over to the USA) and direct transfer of key military bases from the UK to the USA. Indirectly, by the UK economy being broken by the war (immediately before the war, UK GDP was half that of USA, i.e. a competitor, but after the war it was a sixth, i.e. not a competitor).

and didn't get involved before Pearl Harbor?

You aren't actually thinking the USA did, are you? Have you been watching USA war films and thinking they real? e.g. U-571.

Had Roosevelt been given absolute rule, he would probably have brought the USA in earlier.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 1:37:40 PMAnd the americans seem to LOVE forgetting about their arch enemies: The Russians They had a ridiculously large army, and it was an advanced one with combat experience.

Ummm check your facts on Russia it was not advanced or very experienced when they got involved. It was just about the opposite of thatt Stalin solved the problem by throwing people at it and in fact got rid of many leaders that could've helped because he saw them as a threat. One in five Russians died in WW2 not soldiers people thats what happen when you lead like Stalin.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 1:30:39 PMWow Europeans should practice what they preach and open a history book tell me exactly how we made money from WW2 and didn't get involved before Pearl Harbor?? We had pilots going over to fly for the RAF before Pearl Harbor. As for lend lease we also made that before Pearl Harbor to help Russia and the UK primarily. We didn't charge for anything before the war was over and didn't charge for anything that was returned to the U.S.A. Those items that were kept by the UK were sold at 10% of nominal value sounds like a real money maker HUH!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 11:02:38 AM'I hope their government burns.'

For the people who actually have experience in the middle east, this is the reality. All these claims that 'white america' are a bunch of islam hating racist's who happily seek out extremists to run ME countries for us is just ridiculous. Having worked with and killed muslim men, I/we know they're no different than myself/us. The difference IS how childish these men's leadership is.

Meanwhile, the notion america had anything more to do with Bahrain's leadership than, say, France is ostentatious. Currency is the only reason these guys get away with what they do, and it comes from the whole world, not just 'GW Bush'